Wedge-shaped cutting blades made of hard metal or steel are used over a relatively long period of time and, by contrast to simple disposal blades, can be reground. Owing to their geometry, these wedge-shaped cutting blades are extremely stable, so that they can be used in a cutter holder of simple construction. To this end, cutter holders are known which have a right-hand and a left-hand clamping jaw.
The cutter is fixed in the clamping jaws by means of two screws, which each act on the back face of the cutter.
Holders of wedge-shaped design are known for accommodating blade-like cutters (disposal blades), into which holders these blades are clamped. Depending on the application, these blade holders are also used instead of a wedge-shaped cutting blade, here again the holder being fixed in the two clamping jaws.
To align the cutting blade with the object to be cut, the cutter holder is pivotably mounted on a base. A cutter holder of this kind is illustrated and described, for example, in DE 21 43 529.
A drawback of these known cutter holders is the fact that the two clamping jaws, for reasons of stability, are of upwardly closed design and thus the cutting blade can only be slid into the corresponding guide with difficulty.
A cutter holder of multipart design, which in addition to two closed supports has a continuous abutment device, is known from DE 34 13 251. One of the back faces of the cutter is supported against this abutment device. The cutting blade is clamped by means of a continuous clamping jaw, which is actuated by means of an eccentric and acts on the other rear face of the cutter.
This cutter holder provides a high level of stability in the cutting region of the cutter. However, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the cut samples slide onto the clamping jaw and can thus only be removed with difficulty.
A cutter holder for accommodating wedge-shaped microtome cutters which has two upwardly open clamping jaws for accommodating the cutting blade is known from DE 195 06 837 C1. A setscrew is provided in each clamping jaw for the purpose of fixing the cutting blade in the cutter holder, these setscrews being connected to a continuous clamping plate. When screwing in the two setscrews, the clamping plate is pressed against the back face of the cutter and the cutting blade is fixed in the cutter holder.
A cutter holder of this kind has proven itself in practice and is distinguished by high mechanical stability in the cutting region. In addition, the cutter holder allows simple removal of the cut sample from the back face of the cutter.
When cutting the sample, only a small part of the cutter blade is used, so that after this part has been worn away the cutting blade is displaced within the cutter holder. To do this, it is necessary to loosen the two setscrews and to displace the cutting blade by a specific amount. It is necessary to ensure here that neither the angular position of the cutting blade with respect to the object nor the distance of the cutter blade from the object changes. This cutter holder allows the cutting blade to be displaced within the cutter holder while maintaining the set position of the cutter. However, in practice it has been found that operating two setscrews makes it difficult to displace the cutting blade.